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Sammy Gravano
Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano (born March 12, 1945) is a former hitman, and former underboss of the Gambino crime family. He was well known as John Gotti's underboss and right-hand man from 1986-1992. Sammy Gravano is known as the man who helped bring down John Gotti, the family's boss, by agreeing to become a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) government witness. Originally a mobster for the Colombo Crime Family, and later for the Brooklyn faction of the Gambinos, Gravano participated in the conspiracy to murder Gambino crime family boss Paul Castellano. Gravano played a key role in planning and executing Castellano's murder; other conspirators included John Gotti, Angelo Ruggiero, Frank DeCicco, and Joseph Armone. After Castellano's death, Gotti elevated Gravano to consigliere, a position he held until he became underboss in 1988. In 1992, he became a government witness. At the time, Gravano was the highest-ranking member of The Italian-American Mafia to ever break his Cosa Nostra oath and cooperate with the government. His testimony drew a wave of Cosa Nostra members to also become government witnesses. It is known that Gravano murdered a total of 19 people, However, it is believed by the FBI that Gravano murdered many more than 19 people, some sources believe that Gravano murdered as many as 50 people. Around 2004, while Gravano was in Federal Prison, Gravano once bragged to another cell mate that he murder way more than 19 people, Gravano was bragging to the cell mate that he actually killed over 60 people. Gravano also bragged to his cell mate, stating that during the time that he was the underboss of the Gambino Crime Family, he ordered the death of an NYPD Organized Crime Task Force Detective, Gravano also claimed that he ordered mafia hitman Richard Kuklinski to murder the NYPD Detective. Childhood and early life Salvatore Gravano was born in Bensonhurst, a mafia operated neighborhood. His mother and father were Italian-born and worked together in their own dress factory company. Young Gravano first noticed these Italian wiseguys when walking with his father past a Brooklyn saloon where they would get a shave and a haircut every once and a-while. Before he was 10, His father taught him to stay away from these men and to live an honest and hardworking life. A few days after his 10th birthday, a green bike which he received from his parents was stolen. While he was walking past the Mafia operated saloon, he noticed two young boys on his bike. Gravano fought against them until a Colombo crime family member stepped in and awarded Gravano with his bike and from then on, he was nicknamed "Sammy the Bull" Gravano because whenever he fought he would turn into a raging bull. Colombo associate The Mafia has been in Bensonhurst for a long time; several "wiseguys" hung around a bar that a young Gravano and his father frequently passed. On one occasion, they helped Gravano recover a stolen bicycle. At one point, one of these mobsters was so impressed by Gravano's fighting ability that he nicknamed him "the Bull." The nickname stuck. Despite his father's attempts to dissuade him, Gravano, like many of his Ramper colleagues, drifted into the Cosa Nostra. He first became associated with the Cosa Nostra in 1968 through Tommy Spero, whose uncle Shorty Spero was an associate of the Colombo crime family under future boss, Carmine Persico. Gravano was initially involved in petty crimes such as larceny, hijacking, and armed robbery. He quickly moved into racketeering, loansharking, and running a lucrative poker game in the back room of an after-hours club, of which he was part-owner. Gravano became a particular favorite of family boss Joseph Colombo, who used Gravano to picket the FBI Manhattan headquarters as part of his Italian-American Civil Rights League initiative. Gravano's rise was so precipitous that it was generally understood that he would be among the first to become made when the Cosa Nostra's membership books were reopened (they had been closed since 1957). In 1970, Gravano committed his first murder—that of Joseph Colucci, a fellow Spero associate with whose wife Tommy Spero was having an affair. Colucci reportedly was planning to kill Gravano and both Speros in retaliation. Gravano described the experience thusly: :"As that Beatles song played, I became a killer. Joe Colucci was going to die. I was going to kill him because he was plotting to kill me. I felt the rage inside me.... Everything went in slow motion. I could almost feel the bullet leaving the gun and entering his skull. It was strange. I didn't hear the first shot. I didn't see any blood. His head didn't seem to move.... I felt like I was a million miles away, like this was all a dream." The Colucci murder won respect and approval from Persico for Gravano. Gravano later became a mentor to Colucci's son, Jack Colucci, who became involved in the construction industry as a Gambino associate. Made man In the early 1970s, Colombo mobster Ralph Spero, brother of Shorty, became jealous of Gravano's success, fearing that he would become a made man before his son Tommy. To avoid conflict, Shorty Spero allowed Gravano to leave the Colombo family and join the Gambino crime family. Now with the Gambinos, Gravano became an associate of capo Salvatore "Toddo" Aurello. Aurello quickly took a liking to Gravano and became his mob mentor. Around this time, Gravano took a construction job (he later claimed to have considered leaving the criminal life). A former associate, however, falsely claimed to the New York District Attorney's Office that Gravano and another associate were responsible for a double murder from 1969. After Gravano was indicted, he desperately needed money to pay his legal bills. He quit his construction job and went on a self-described "robbing rampage" for a year and a half. One week into the trial, the prosecution moved to dismiss the charges. Gravano later said of this legal problem: :"That pinch (arrest) changed my whole life. I never, ever stopped a second from there on in. I was like a madman. Never stopped stealing. Never stopped robbing. I was obsessed." Gravano's robbery spree impressed Aurello, who proposed him for membership in the Gambino family. In 1976, the Cosa Nostra's membership books were finally reopened and Gravano became one of the first to be sworn in. Gambino soldier Family loyalty put to the test Gravano's loyalty to his dueling families was put to the test in 1978, when the erratic behavior of his brother-in-law, Nicholas Scibetta, attracted the attention of Gambino leadership. Scibetta, the brother of Gravano's wife, had developed an alcohol problem and soon started using cocaine. A series of altercations with mob associates followed, one of which ended with Scibetta's having his adversary arrested, earning Scibetta a reputation as a stool pigeon. Scibetta sealed his fate when he insulted the daughter of George DeCicco, brother of Gambino member Frank DeCicco. Hearing the news, Gravano gave his brother-in-law a beating in an attempt to forestall worse punishment. The elder DeCicco, however, was incensed and took the matter to boss Paul Castellano, who ordered a hit on Scibetta. The order was given to Frank DeCicco, who was told not to inform Gravano. DeCicco gave the contract to Liborio Milito and Josephy "Stymie" D'Angelo, Sr., two associates on Gravano's crew. After consultation, the three agreed it was wrong not to tell Gravano. DeCicco went to Castellano and persuaded him to give permission to inform Gravano, but Castellano also authorized DeCicco to kill Gravano if he opposed the murder. According to Gravano, he was initially livid at the news and threatened to kill Castellano, but DeCicco eventually convinced him opposition would be futile and Gravano acquiesced to the murder The only part of Scibetta's body ever recovered was one of his hands, and he was declared legally dead in 1985. How Scibetta was killed, as well as the exact extent of Gravano's involvement, remains unknown. Around this time, Gravano opened an afterhours club in Bensonhurst. The bar was the scene of a violent altercation one night, involving a rowdy and violent biker gang, known as The Breed motorcycle club (The Breed MC), the Breed Motorcycle Club was intent on ransacking the establishment, which may have served as inspiration for a similar scene in the 1993 film A Bronx Tale. There were over 21 biker gang members in Gravano's after-hours club, as the bikers started to act reckless, Gravano called his fellow mobsters within the Gambino Crime Family, 22 Gambino crime family members came to help Sammy Gravano, and as soon as they showed up, A melee ensued, in which Gravano almost beat 2 bikers to death with his bear hands, and all of the rest of the bikers were severely beaten and battered, Gravano and his fellow Gambino mobsters were beating the biker gang members with baseball bats and brass knuckles, some of the biker gang members were stabbed with Italian stiletto switchblades, as the fight went on for approximately 10 minutes, Gravano tripped and broke his ankle, the bikers were chased off by Gravano and his fellow mobsters. Gravano then went to Castellano and received permission to murder the leader of the gang, and as many members he could kill. Along with Liborio Milito, Gravano hunted down the leader, severely wounding him and killing 4 members of the biker gang with sawed-off shotguns. Gravano was so hell bent on revenge in which he said to his partner Milito that "I'm gonna kill each and every one of those fucking faggot cocksuckers" and the next night Sammy Gravano and Liborio Milito went out searching for the vice president of the Breed motorcycle club and other members as well, from their sources, Gravano and Milito found them at a house with the vice president of the Breed motorcycle club and 5 other members of the biker gang, including 3 of their girlfriends, Gravano and Milito shot the vice president and the other 5 members of the Breed motorcycle club, including their girlfriends dead, they killed all 9 of them with Assault Rifles. Two weeks later, Sammy Gravano and Liborio Milito killed two more members of the Breed motorcycle club shooting them with uzi submachine guns while the two bikers were riding on their motorcycle's. Castellano was impressed and flabbergasted when he learned the crutch-ridden Gravano personally took part in the hit, and killed more than half of the entire biker gang Construction magnate Like his predecessor Carlo Gambino, Paul Castellano favored emphasizing more sophisticated schemes involving construction, trucking, and garbage disposal over traditional street-level activities such as loansharking, gambling, and hijackings. Castellano had a particular interest in the construction business. Gravano began to change his boss's cowboy image of him when he entered into the plumbing and drywall business with his brother-in-law, Edward Garafola. As Gravano's involvement in construction increased, he became closer and closer to Castellano, eventually penetrating Castellano's inner circle and becoming a regular at his Todt Hill, Staten Island mansion. Gravano quickly acquired tremendous clout in the construction and trucking industries. The Aurello crew supervised the Gambino family's control over Teamsters Local 282, which had jurisdiction over building materials to all construction sites in the city. The Mafia's control over the city's construction industry was so absolute that it had effective veto power over all major construction projects in the city. For all practical purposes, no concrete could be poured for any project worth more than $2 million without Mafia approval. After Aurello's death, the crew was controlled by Frank DeCicco, and Gravano was made the point-man in the all-powerful Teamsters Local 282 rackets, working closely with successive union bosses John Cody and Robert Sasso (both of whom would be sent to prison for labor racketeering). Gravano installed Louis Vallario, Frank Fappiano, and Michael DiLeonardo as his day-to-day soldiers in the construction rackets. Gravano's construction and other business interests soon earned him a reputation as a "good earner" within the Gambino organization and made him a multi-millionaire, enabling him to build a large estate for his family in rural Ocean County, New Jersey. Flush with cash, Gravano also invested in trotting horses to race at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Gravano also became the operator of a popular discotheque, The Plaza Suite, in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn. Gravano reportedly made $300,000 a week from the Plaza Suite alone. Gravano also used the club as his construction racket headquarters. Simone murder Gravano further ingratiated himself to Castellano when he interceded in a civil war that had erupted within the Philadelphia crime family. In March 1980, longtime Philadelphia boss, Angelo Bruno, was assassinated by his consigliere, Antonio Caponigro, without authorization from The Commission. The Commission summoned Caponigro to New York, where it sentenced him to death for his transgression. After Caponigro was tortured and killed, Philip Testa was installed as the new Philadelphia boss and Nicodemo Scarfo as consigliere. The Commission subsequently placed contracts on Caponigro's co-conspirators, including John "Johnny Keys" Simone, who also happened to be Bruno's cousin. The Simone contract was given to Gravano. After befriending Simone through a series of meetings, Gravano, with the assistance of Liborio Milito and D'Angelo, abducted Simone from Skyview country club near Robbinsville airport (part of suburban Trenton, New Jersey) and drove him to a wooded area on Staten Island. Gravano then granted Simone's requests to die with his shoes off, in fulfillment of a promise he had made to his wife, and at the hands of a made man. After Gravano removed Simone's shoes, Milito shot Simone in the back of the head, killing him. Gravano later expressed admiration for Simone as a so-called "man's man," remarking favorably on the calmness with which he accepted his fate. Gravano earned praise from Paul Castellano for the killing. Fiala murder By the early 1980s, the Plaza Suite was a thriving establishment. Patrons often had to wait an hour to get in and the club featured high-profile live acts such as singers Chubby Checker and the Four Tops. In 1982, Frank Fiala, a wealthy businessman and drug trafficker, paid Gravano $80,000 to rent the Plaza Suite for a birthday party he was throwing himself. Two days after the party, Gravano accepted a $15 million offer from Fiala to buy the establishment, which Gravano had only valued at $10 million. The deal was structured to include $2 million cash as a down payment, $850,000 in gold bullion under the table, and a $650,000 payment at the real estate closing. Before the transaction was completed, Fiala began acting like he already owned the club. He started remodeling it and hired his own bouncers. The final provocation was when Fiala moved into Gravano's private office and began breaking through an office wall. Gravano, enraged, stormed into the office followed by Garafola. Fiala was standing behind Gravano's desk. He sat down in Gravano's chair, smirking at the two men. "What do you think you're doing?" Gravano growled. "This doesn't belong to you till the closing. Get the hell out of here." Fiala reached into a desk drawer, removed an Uzi machine gun and aimed it at the two men. Ordering them to sit down, Fiala stated, "You fucking greaseballs, you do things my way." The second Gravano realized he was not going to be shot, he began to plot Fiala's murder. Upon leaving the Plaza Suite, Gravano called Garafola and set up an ambush outside the club, involving Garafola, Liborio Milito, D'Angelo, Nicholas Mormando, and Michael DeBatt in the plan. Later that night, Gravano confronted Fiala on the street as he exited the Plaza Suite among a group of people, asking, "Hey, Frank, how you doing?" As Fiala turned around, surprised to see Gravano, Liborio Milito came up behind him and shot him in the head. Milito stood over the body and fired a shot into each of Fiala's eyes as Fiala's entourage and the crowd of people on the street dispersed, screaming. Gravano then walked up to Fiala's corpse and spat on it. Although Gravano believed the entire neighborhood knew he was responsible for the murder, he was never charged for the crime: Gravano had made a $30,000 payoff to two of the lead New York Police Department organized crime task force detective's Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa to ensure that the investigation yielded no leads. Although Gravano evaded criminal charges, he incurred Castellano's wrath over the unsanctioned killing. Gravano attempted to lie low for nearly three weeks afterwards, during which time he called his crew together and made the decision to kill Paul Castellano if necessary. Gravano and Liborio Milito were then summoned to a meeting with Castellano at a Manhattan restaurant. Castellano had been given the details of what Fiala had done, but he was still livid that Gravano had not come to him for permission to kill Fiala first. Gravano, however, was spared execution when he convinced Castellano that the reason he had kept him in the dark was to protect the boss in case something went wrong with the hit. Fiala's murder posed one final problem for Gravano in the form of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The high publicity generated by the incident triggered an IRS investigation into Gravano and Fiala's deal for the sale of the Plaza Suite and Gravano was subsequently charged with tax evasion. Gravano was represented by Gerald Shargel and acquitted at trial. Gravano's relief at being acquitted was tempered by news close friend, D'Angelo, had been killed by a Colombo family associate celebrating his having been proposed for membership. The killer was then murdered, himself, on orders from the Colombo family. Aligning with Gotti In the aftermath of the Fiala murder, Gravano continued to focus on his construction business, branching out into the lucrative concrete paving industry. New York City's cement industry was controlled by four of the Five Families, which made millions of dollars by manipulating bids and steering contracts. Gravano eventually became embroiled in a dispute with business partner Louis DiBono, a member of another Gambino crew. A sit-down with Paul Castellano was held, at which an irate Gravano accused DiBono of withholding $700,000 in payments for subcontracts and threatened to kill DiBono. Gambino underboss Aniello Dellacroce intervened on Gravano's behalf and Castellano told the two men to end their business partnership, though Gravano's standing with the boss slipped as a result of the incident. Dellacroce, however, was rising star John Gotti's mentor, and when word got back to him that Dellacroce had supported Gravano, John Gotti was impressed. During this time, the FBI had intensified its efforts against the Gambino family, and in August 1983, three members of Gotti's crew – Angelo Ruggiero, John Carneglia, and Gene Gotti – were indicted for heroin trafficking. Castellano was against anyone in the Family dealing narcotics. Castellano planned to kill Gene Gotti and Ruggiero if he believed they were drug traffickers. Castellano asked Ruggiero for a copy of the government surveillance tapes that had Ruggiero's conversations. To save Gene Gotti and Ruggiero, Dellacroce stalled the demand. Eventually, one of the reasons for Gotti's killing Castellano was to save his brother and Ruggiero. The FBI had bugged Ruggiero's house and telephone, and Castellano decided he needed copies of the tapes to justify his impending move to Dellacroce and the family's other capos. When Paul Castellano was indicted for both his connection to Roy DeMeo's stolen car ring and as part of the Mafia Commission Trial, he learned his own house had been bugged on the basis of evidence from the Ruggiero tapes and he became livid. In June 1985, he again demanded that Dellacroce get him the tapes. Both Dellacroce and Gotti tried to convince Ruggiero to comply if Castellano explained beforehand how he intended to use the tapes, but Ruggiero refused, fearing he would endanger good friends. Three months later, Gravano was approached by Robert DiBernardo, a fellow Gambino member acting as an intermediary for Gotti. DiBernardo informed him that John Gotti and Angelo Ruggiero wanted to meet with him in Queens. Gravano arrived to find only Ruggiero was present. Ruggiero informed Gravano that he and Gotti were planning to murder Castellano and asked for Gravano's support. Gravano was initially noncommittal, wanting to confer first with Frank DeCicco. In conversation with DeCicco, both men voiced concern that Castellano would designate his nephew, Thomas Gambino, acting boss and his driver, Thomas Bilotti, underboss in the event he was convicted and sent to prison. Neither man appealed to Gravano or DeCicco as leadership material, and they ultimately decided to support the hit on Paul Castellano. Whacking the boss Gravano's second choice to become boss after Castellano's murder was Frank DeCicco, but DeCicco felt John Gotti's ego was too big to take a subservient role. DeCicco argued that Gotti's boldness, intelligence, and charisma made him well-suited to be "a good boss" and he convinced Gravano to give Gotti a chance. DeCicco and Gravano, however, also made a secret pact to kill Gotti and take over the family as boss and underboss, respectively, if they were unhappy with Gotti's leadership after one year. The conspirators' first order of business was meeting with other Gambino members, most of whom were disaffected under Paul Castellano, and gaining their support for the hit. Gotti and Ruggiero then sought and obtained the approval of the Colombo and Bonanno families, while DeCicco secured the backing of the Luccheses. The conspirators decided not to approach the Genovese family due to boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante's long-standing friendship with Castellano. With Neil Dellacroce's death on December 2, the final constraint on a move by Gotti or Castellano against the other was removed. Gotti, enraged that Castellano chose not to attend his mentor's wake, wasted little time in striking. Not suspecting the plot against him, Paul Castellano invited DeCicco to a meeting on December 16, 1985 with fellow capos Thomas Gambino, James Failla, and Daniel Marino at Sparks Steak House in Manhattan. The conspirators considered the restaurant a prime location for the hit because the area would be packed with bustling crowds of holiday shoppers, making it easier for the assassins to blend in and escape. The plans for the assassination were finalized on December 15, and the next afternoon, the conspirators met for a final time on the Lower East Side. At Gotti's suggestion, the shooters wore long white trench coats and black fur Russian hats, which Gravano considered a "brilliant" idea. John Gotti and Gravano arrived at the restaurant shortly before 5 o'clock and, after circling the block, parked their car across the intersection and within view of the entrance. Around 5:30, Gravano spotted Castellano's Lincoln Town Car stopped at a nearby intersection and, via walkie talkie, alerted the team of hitmen stationed outside the restaurant of Castellano's approach. Castellano's driver, Thomas Bilotti, pulled the car up directly in front of the entrance. As Paul Castellano and Bilotti exited the Lincoln, the roughly half dozen shooters moved in and opened fire, killing both men in a barrage of bullets. As the hat-and-trench-coat-adorned men slipped away into the night, Gotti calmly drove the car past the front of the restaurant to get a look at the scene. Looking down at Bilotti's body from the passenger window, Gravano remarked, "He's gone." Co-underboss and consigliere The new regime After Castellano's death, a meeting of the Gambino family's capos was held, at which Frank DeCicco nominated John Gotti to be the new boss. Gotti's nomination met with no opposition and he was installed as don. Gotti, in turn, selected DeCicco as his underboss and elevated Gravano to capo after Toddo Aurello announced his desire to step down. Gotti was recognized as the Gambino family's boss and a member of The Commission by each of the other Five Families, including the Genovese family, whose approval for the hit on Castellano had been deliberately bypassed by Gotti and his co-conspirators. The Genovese family, however, was still upset that Gotti had proceeded without the full sanctioning of The Commission and cryptically announced that a Mafia rule had been broken, for which somebody would have to pay if and when The Commission, which was in disarray at the time due to the Mafia Commission Trial, met again. Gravano and DeCicco had been hiding out in safe houses, but they took the other families' full recognition of Gotti as an indication that it was safe to resurface. The Genoveses made good on their veiled threat in April 1986, when Frank DeCicco was killed by a car bomb outside of Castellano's former social club in Bensonhurst, then operated by Gambino capo James Failla. Gravano was at the club at the time and was blown off his feet by the blast. Gravano attempted to pull DeCicco from the wreckage but realized it was no use when he saw various body parts scattered about. The attack was orchestrated by Genovese boss Vincent Gigante, with the backing of Lucchese leaders Vittorio Amuso and Anthony Casso. The bomb was intended to kill both DeCicco and Gotti, who was supposed to be at the club for a meeting with Gravano and DeCicco. Gotti, however, couldn't make the meeting and rescheduled for later that evening at the Ravenite Social Club in Manhattan. Failla and fellow capo Daniel Marino were two of Castellano's closest associates before his death and both men were in on Gigante's plot. In exchange for a promise to be designated co-leaders of the Gambino family after the assassinations, Failla and Marino provided intelligence and tipped off the plotters to the planned meeting in Bensonhurst. The plotters reportedly used a car bomb for the attack in order to divert suspicion. The method had its intended effect, as Gotti and Gravano considered and dismissed the possibility that Gigante was behind the plot, reasoning, "He wouldn't use... bombs." With DeCicco dead, the Gambinos were left without an underboss. Gotti chose to fill the vacancy by naming Angelo Ruggiero and Gravano co-underbosses. "Nicky Cowboy" murder The first person on Gravano's hit list after Castellano's murder was Nicholas Mormando, a former member of his crew. Mormando had become addicted to crack cocaine and was suspected by Gravano of getting friend and fellow crew member Michael DeBatt addicted to the drug. According to Gravano, Mormando started to act "like a renegade... berserk." The final straw came when Mormando announced he no longer wanted to be in the crew and planned to start his own gang. Gravano decided he "couldn't take a chance" because Mormando "knew too much" and he got permission from John Gotti to kill Mormando. Gravano arranged to have Mormando murdered on his way to a meeting at Gravano's Bensonhurst restaurant, Tali's. After assuring Mormando of his safety, Gravano told him to pick up Joseph Paruta on his way. Paruta got in the backseat of the car and shot Mormando twice in the back of the head. Mormando's corpse was then disposed of in a vacant lot, where it was discovered the next day. Consigliere John Gotti was imprisoned in May 1986 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York while awaiting trial on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges. He was forced to rely heavily on Gravano, Angelo Ruggiero, and Joseph Armone to manage the family's day-to-day affairs while he called the major shots from his jail cell. In June, Gravano was approached by Angelo Ruggiero and, supposedly at Gotti's behest, given orders to murder capo Robert DiBernardo for making negative remarks about Gotti's leadership. Gravano was friendly with DiBernardo and tried to get the murder called off until he had a chance to speak with John Gotti after his trial. Ruggiero claimed to have met again with Gotti and told Gravano that the boss wanted DiBernardo killed right away. Gravano arranged a meeting with DiBernardo where Joseph Paruta, a member of Gravano's crew, shot DiBernardo twice in the back of the head as the underboss watched. Gravano later learned that Ruggiero was $250,000 in debt to DiBernardo and realized Ruggiero may have fabricated the orders from Gotti or simply lied to Gotti about what DiBernardo was accused of saying in order to erase the debt and improve his own standing in the family. In any event, DiBernardo's death proved profitable for Gravano, as he took over the deceased man's control of Teamsters Local 282. Gotti's trial ultimately ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury and the boss was freed from jail. Gravano's specific position within the family varied during 1986 and 1987. He started out as co-underboss with Angelo Ruggiero and later was shifted to co-consigliere with Joseph Armone. When Joseph N. Gallo and Armone were convicted on racketeering charges in 1987, Gotti turned to Gravano to help fill the void, promoting him to official consigliere and making Frank Locascio acting underboss. By this time, Gravano was regarded as a "rising force" in the construction industry and often mingled with executives from major construction firms and union officials at his popular Bensonhurst restaurant, Tali's. Gravano's success was not without a downside. First, his quick rise up the Gambino hierarchy attracted the attention of the FBI, and he was soon placed under surveillance. Second, he started to sense some jealousy from Gotti over the profitability of his legitimate business interests. Nevertheless, Gravano claimed to be kicking up over $2 million each year to Gotti out of his union activities alone. More murders Michael DeBatt, the son of a late friend of Gravano's, had also become addicted to crack cocaine. DeBatt's wife came to Gravano pleading for help. She told Gravano that DeBatt stayed up at night with a gun claiming "they were coming to get him." Gravano had taken DeBatt under his wing after the elder DeBatt's death, as he had done with Joey D' Angelo. Gravano responded to DeBatt's wife's cries for help by having DeBatt shot to death at Tali's, Gravano's bar. The shooters emptied the cash register and left DeBatt in the bar to make it look like a robbery. Not long after this, Gravano became the family's consigliere and his old crew was taken over by Louis Vallario. Liborio Milito, Gravano's old buddy from his childhood days with the Rampers, was not pleased with this decision. Milito made the mistake of telling other crew members that it was he who should have been given the top spot in Gravano's crew after Gravano's promotion, and not Vallario. Gravano claimed in his book Underboss that before the Castellano hit, Milito had become much closer to Paul Castellano and Thomas Bilotti. Castellano had informed Milito that Gravano should have been killed after the unsanctioned murder of Frank Fiala as well as after Gravano threatened fellow made man Louis DiBono. With John Gotti and the Bergin crew in hot water with the indictment of Angelo Ruggiero on heroin distribution charges, Milito feared Gravano and his crew could be in danger of being killed along with Gotti, once Aniello Dellacroce died. Milito, according to Gravano, severed business ties with Gravano and started a loanshark operation with Thomas Bilotti. When Castellano and Bilotti were murdered, Milito was in prison. Upon his release, Gravano claims Gotti wanted Milito killed. Gravano claims he stood up for Milito and stopped the murder from happening. After he was read the riot act, Milito returned to Gravano's crew, only to badmouth his old friend's choice of Vallario as captain after Gravano's promotion. Milito was called to a meeting to discuss the murder of a Gambino associate. Gene Gotti, John Carneglia, Louis Vallario and Arnold Squitieri were present at the meeting, as was Gravano. While Milito was drinking some espresso, Carneglia shot him to death. Milito's body has never been found. Milito's wife Lynda claims in her book Mafia Wife that when Liborio Milito did not come home or call, she went to see Gravano at his home. Lynda said Gravano gave her $5,000 and cut all ties to her. Lynda also wrote that a friend saw Gravano driving Louie Milito's Lincoln Town Car and was able to identify it by damage done to the car before Louie Milito went missing. Lynda Milito would cry foul in her book after Gravano testified he had not been the shooter in Louie Milito's murder; she said that a Gambino crime family member later informed her that Gravano had shot and killed Liborio Milito, contrary to what Gravano had told the FBI. Gravano, however, claims in his book Underboss that after Milito was killed, he finished the construction work Milito was having done on his home and continued to support Lynda Milito and her family. Despite Gravano's rise in status to consigliere, Gotti continued to use Gravano for the task of murder. In May 1988, Gravano and Robert Bisaccia, a New Jersey crime family soldier, murdered Francessco Oliverri for beating a Gambino family crew member to death. Bisaccia shot Oliverri to death while Gravano waited in a stolen get-away car. After Oliverri, John Gotti had finally got around to taking care of Wilfred Johnson. Johnson had been a childhood friend of Gotti's and a longtime crew member while Gotti was captain of the Bergin crew. However, at Gotti's RICO trial, Diane Giacalone, the head prosecutor, revealed that Johnson had been an informant for the FBI for years. Johnson refused to testify for the prosecution. In Underboss Gravano claims that Gotti met with Johnson during the trial and informed Johnson that as long as he never testified against Gotti, he and his family would not be harmed. Johnson would never be allowed to participate in mob matters again, however. Johnson asked Gotti to swear on his dead son, Frank Gotti, who had been killed in a tragic accident years ago. Gotti swore. Now Gotti was having second thoughts. "John discussed how it should go, using me to bounce off ideas about the best way to do it. That was my only involvement," Gravano explained. Johnson was shot while walking to his car to go to work in front of his house in May 1988. In 1990, Gravano was involved in two murders, the first of which was Eddie Garofalo, a demolition contractor who made the mistake of running afoul of the Gambinos. On August 9, 1990, Garofalo was shot to death in front of his home as arranged by Gravano. The last murder to involve Gravano was the murder of Louis DiBono, the made man Gravano had threatened to kill years earlier. Gravano described the reasons for the murder in Underboss: :"He was still robbing the family and I asked for permission to take him out. But John had a meeting with DiBono, and DiBono told John that he had a billion dollars of drywall work that was coming out of the World Trade Center. John bit, hook, line and sinker, and refused my request. John said he would handle DiBono personally and become his partner. But DiBono was up to his old tricks double-dealing. He had obviously been bullshitting John. So when John called Louie in for meetings to discuss their new partnership, DiBono didn't show up. John was humiliated. This meant an automatic death penalty. John gave the contract to DiBono's captain, Pat Conte. Conte botched an ideal opportunity to kill DiBono. Then, as Gotti grew increasingly impatient, Conte explained that the problem now was trying to corner DiBono again. Whenever a meeting with him was arranged, DiBono never appeared. It was a joke, what was going on. I couldn't help laughing to myself. I told John why didn't Pat simplify everything. Just call Louie up and tell him to hang himself. Ten months went by. John looks like an asshole. He was too embarrassed even to ask me for help." A construction associate of Gravano's unknowingly informed Gravano of DiBono's activities. Gravano informed John Gotti and DiBono's body was found in his 1987 Cadillac Deville in the parking lot of the World Trade Center On October 4th 1990. Gravano's intentions for this murder would be called into question as it was suspected Gravano might have had different reasons for wanting DiBono dead due to his jealousy over DiBono's drywall business. With Gotti's permission, Gravano set up the murders of Tommy Spero and several other Gambino associates. Eventually, John Gotti would name Gravano his underboss, and move Frank Locascio to consigliere. When Gotti was tried for racketeering and assault charges in the winter of 1986–87, Gravano paid a juror to vote not guilty regardless of the evidence. It was this trial that allowed Gotti to make his reputation as "the Teflon Don." Turning government witness Eventually, Gravano and several other members of the Gambino family became disenchanted with Gotti's lust for the media and high profile antics, feeling they brought too much heat. Several members of the family informed Gravano that Gotti's high profile and large gatherings of mob members at the Ravenite Social Club were constant targets for the FBI and that the media attention put a large spotlight on the Gambinos. Many members of the family, according to Gravano, complained to him about Gotti's use of Gravano in murders despite Gravano's position as underboss of the family. Gotti had been going in and out of the courtroom like it was a revolving door. He was first tried for assaulting a refrigerator repairman over a parking space. Through witness intimidation, he was acquitted. Gravano had paid a juror in Gotti's second trial to vote in favor of an acquittal allowing Gotti to beat the RICO charges lodged against him. Gotti's third trial on state assault charges ended the same way. Gotti's ego began to bother Gravano as well as several other members of the family. Gotti was first known as the "Dapper Don" in the press for his Brioni suits and hand-painted ties as well as his well-combed hair and quick wit with reporters. John Gotti required Gravano and Gambino consigliere Frank Locascio to be at the Ravenite social club five days a week and all of his captains to make an appearance once a week. When Gravano warned Gotti about the negative attention from reporters as well as the constant surveillance from the FBI, Gotti instructed Gravano not to worry about it as Gotti knew what he was doing. After being acquitted of the shooting of union official John O'Connor, John Gotti received word from a mole that indictments were coming down for Gotti, Gravano, Frank Locascio, and captain Thomas Gambino. Gotti ordered Gravano to become a fugitive to avoid arrest so that if Gotti was arrested, Gravano could run the family while on the run himself. Gravano hid out in various places on the east coast for two weeks before being ordered to return for a meeting at the Ravenite Social club in Little Italy. On the night of the meeting, John Gotti, Salvatore Gravano, and Frank Locascio were arrested by the FBI. In court proceedings Gravano heard FBI tapes of conversations in which Gotti disparaged him for being too greedy and "creating a family within a family." Gotti also discussed several murders in which Gravano was involved and worded it to sound like Gravano was a greedy "mad dog" killer. Gotti was heard on tapes questioning why everyone who went partners with Gravano kept winding up dead, with Gravano always having an excuse why they needed to be killed. Gravano also would make money every time a partner was killed. He was also angered that Gotti was openly rooting for Iraq in the Persian Gulf War; as a veteran he found this extremely unpatriotic. Gravano had been consulting a hypnotist named Halpern to deal with fears he had, and Gotti's lawyers wanted to call Halpern as a witness, but the judge refused. Gravano had told Halpern he was deathly afraid of going to prison. Gotti informed Gravano he would not be allowed to converse with his lawyers unless Gotti was present. Gravano claimed Gotti's defense to consist of Gotti's lawyers portraying Gotti as a peace-loving boss falling all over himself to restrain the kill-crazy Gravano, resulting in a conviction for Gravano and an acquittal for Gotti. On November 11, 1991, federal prosecutors announced that Gravano became a cooperating government witness. Gravano would later testify against Gotti and other high-ranking mobsters in exchange for a reduced sentence. John Gotti received a sentence of life imprisonment. As part of Gravano's cooperation agreement, he would never be forced to testify against his former crew. On September 26, 1994, a federal judge sentenced Gravano to five years in prison. However, since Gravano had already served four years, the sentence amounted to less than one year. The judge said that Gravano's testimony against John Gotti was the bravest thing he had ever seen. Later life Book and interviews In 1994, Gravano was released early and entered the U.S. federal Witness Protection Program. The government moved him to Tempe, Arizona, where he assumed the name Jimmy Moran and started a swimming pool installation company. However, in 1995 Gravano and his family left Witness Protection and relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona. A Federal prosecutor later said that Gravano did not like the constraints of the program. Gravano began living very openly, giving interviews to magazines and appearing in a nationally televised interview with television journalist Diane Sawyer. He appeared on live TV after having had plastic surgery to hide his appearance from the mob. In one interview with author/journalist Howard Blum, Gravano boasted: :"If the Commission sends a hit squad of 50 or 100 hitmen with machine guns and grenades down to kill me, I'm dead, but I'm gonna try to take out as many as them as i can. They better not miss, because even if they get me, which they would get me for a fact, there will still be a lot of body bags going back to New York. I'm not afraid of a hit squad finding me and killing me anymore, i used to be petrified, but I'm done living my life like that, if i get killed then i get killed, it is what it is,. If it happens, fuck it. The only thing is that they would kill me pretty fucking slow and brutal, and thats what scares me the most. The mafia never gives rats a quick death, and the mafia never forgets, they will carry out retribution even if it takes them forever. I'm not meeting you in Montana on some fuckin' farm. I'm not sitting here like some jerk-off with a phony beard. I'll tell you something else: I'm a fuckin' pro. Im an expert at killing people, just like every hitman in the mafia, I'm an expert with guns too just like them, because i was one of them, If someone comes to my house, I got a few little surprises for them. Even if they win, which they would, because their too smart and efficient, but there might be surprises. i can guarantee you, that i would at least take out couple of them, before they kill me." In 1997, Gravano wrote a book called Underboss with author Peter Maas. In it, Gravano claimed that he became a government witness after Gotti attempted to defame him at their trial. Gravano finally realized that the Cosa Nostra code of honor was a sham. At this time, Gravano also hired a publicist, despite the fact Gravano complained often about the publicity-seeking Gotti. After the publication of Underboss, several families of Gravano's victims filed a $25 million lawsuit against him. Also in 1997, New York State took legal action to seize Gravano's profits from the book. During an interview Gravano had with the newspaper The Arizona Republic, he claimed federal agents he had met after becoming a government witness had become his personal friends and even visited him in Arizona while on vacation. Gravano later claimed that he didn't want The Republic to publish the story, but relented after the paper allegedly threatened to reveal that his family was living with him in Phoenix. The story so incensed his former mob compatriots that they forced the Gambinos to put a murder contract on him. Drug conviction By the late 1990s, Gravano had re-engaged in criminal activity. He partnered with a local biker gang known as the "Devil Dogs Motorcycle Club" after his son Gerard became friends with the gang's 23-year-old leader, Michael Papa. Gravano started a major ecstasy trafficking organization, selling over 130,000 tablets and grossing $5 million a week. In February 2000, Gravano and 47 other ring members --including his wife Debra, daughter Karen, and Gerard--were arrested on federal and state drug charges. In a classic case of being hoisted by one's own petard, Gravano was brought down by informants in his own ring, as well as recorded conversations in which he discussed drug profits with Debra and Karen--the same evidence that sent John Gotti to prison eight years earlier. On May 25, 2001, Gravano pleaded guilty in New York to federal drug trafficking charges. On June 29, 2001, he pleaded guilty in Phoenix to the state charges. On September 7, 2002, after numerous delays, Gravano was sentenced in New York to 20 years on the federal charges, to run concurrently with the 19-year Arizona sentence. Gerard received nine years in prison. Debra and Karen also pleaded guilty and received several years on probation. Later accusations On February 24, 2003, New Jersey state prosecutors announced they would indict Gravano for ordering the 1980 murder of NYPD detective Peter Calabro by contract killer Richard Kuklinski. Prosecutors later dropped the charges when Kuklinski, the star witness, died before he could testify. Federal inmates who served time with Gravano claimed that he privately admitted to a role in the 1980 killing of a New York cop. Inmates also claimed that Gravano bragged about killing many more than 19 people. Linda Milito claimed in her book Mafia Wife she had heard Gravano had smothered an elderly woman to death during a botched robbery. Milito also claimed that Gravano's former crew members told her that Gravano had shot her husband Liborio Milito twice in the back of the head and once under the chin. In his court testimony, Gravano had claimed to be a bystander when Milito was shot. John Gotti's lawyers also accused Gravano of being involved in two other murders that were not disclosed by the FBI, but these charges were never proven. If it is ever proven that Gravano lied about how many people he killed, appeals by people he helped put in prison could follow. Since Gravano's imprisonment on drug charges, he has been diagnosed with Graves' disease, a thyroid disorder which can cause fatigue, weight loss with increased appetite, and hair loss. Gravano appeared at his drug trial missing hair on his head and eyebrows and appeared to have lost weight. In Phillip Carlo's book Confessions of a Mafia Boss, mobster Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, also imprisoned at Florence, claims that Gravano only ventures out of his cell to get food and that Casso has only seen him in the mess hall a couple of times. As of May 2012, Gravano is incarcerated in an Arizona prison. He will not be eligible for release until 2019, and will be on supervised release for the rest of his life. People murdered by Salvatore Gravano Gravano is thought to be responsible for more than 35 murders, However, below is a confirmed list of his known victims. Order: Nº. Name/Rank/Affiliation/When/Involvement/Reason #Joseph Colucci/Associate/Colombo crime family/1970/Personal/Gravano was the hitman, Colucci was murdered because his wife was having an affair with Tommy Spero, his uncle Ralph decided to have Colucci killed so his nephew could get together with Colucci's wife. #Alan Kaiser/None/Independent/August 5, 1977/Personal/Mistaken identity; Gravano thought 16 year old Alan Kaiser was Aldo Candido the person who robbed his nightclub. #16 Member's of the Breed Motorcycle Club/Biker gang/1978/Personal/A biker gang ransacked on Gravano's bar, Liborio Milito and Gravano single-handedly murdered 16 members of the biker gang in revenge, by either shooting them in the head, torturing them to death, stabbing them to death, or slitting their throats, #Nicholas Scibetta/Associate/Gambino crime family/1978/Confessed/Scibetta was killed because he was involved in a dispute with George DeCicco's daughter. #Tommy Spero/Associate/Gambino crime family/February 1980/Personal/Gravano murdered his enemy Spero after years of rivalry. #John Favarra/None/Independent/March 18, 1980/Personal/Gravano was one of several members of the Bergin crew who kidnapped and murdered John Favara because he had accidentally run over and killed Gotti's youngest son Frank. #John Simone/Capo/Philadelphia crime family/1980/Personal/Gravano was the hitman, Simone was murdered because he was involved in the unsanctioned murder of Philadelphia crime family boss Angelo Bruno. #Frank Fiala/Businessman/Independent/1982/Personal/Gravano murdered Frank Fiala because of a business dispute, Fiala tried to buy the Plaza Nightclub and when the process of purchasing the club was ongoing he made decisions as if he was the owner already without Gravano's permission and this lead to arguments culminating in Fiala threatening to kill Gravano. #Paul Castellano/Boss/Gambino crime family/December 16, 1985/Planned it/Gravano was involved with the planning of this murder and watched it from Gotti's car. Castellano was killed because he was unpopular and because Gotti wanted to become boss. #Thomas Bilotti/Underboss/Gambino crime family/December 16, 1985/Planned it/Gravano was involved with the planning of this murder and watched it from Gotti's car. Bilotti was killed because he was unpopular and because he was Castellano's bodyguard. #Nicholas Mormando/Associate/Gambino crime family/January 1986/Ordered it/Nicholas Mormando was killed because he was addicted to crack cocaine. #Robert DiBernando/Capo/Gambino crime family/June 5, 1986/At the scene/DiBernardo was killed because he was allegedly plotting against the boss, Gravano watched as his associate Joseph Paruta murdered DiBernardo. #Michael DeBatt/Associate/Gambino crime family/November 2, 1986/Ordered it/DeBatt was killed because he was addicted to crack cocaine. #Liborio Milito/Soldier/Gambino crime family/March 8, 1988/At the scene/Milito was killed because he was disrespectful against Gravano for making Louis Vallario capo of his old crew. #Francessco Oliverri/None/Independent/May 3, 1988/At the scene/Gravano drove the getaway car in this murder, Oliverri was killed because he murdered a Gambino made man. #Wilfred Johnson/Associate/Gambino crime family/August 29, 1988/Unknown/Johnson was murdered because he was an FBI informant. #Thomas Spinelli/Assocaite/Gambino crime family/1989/Ordered it/Spinelli was murdered because he was an FBI informant. #Eddie Garofalo/Demolition Contractor/Independent/August 9, 1990/Ordered it/Gravano had Garafalo killed because they were involved in a business dispute. #Louis DiBono/Soldier/Gambino crime family/October 4, 1990/Ordered it/DiBono was murdered because he was stealing from the Gambino crime family and Gravano saw a chance to get revenge on an old enemy after years of rivalry. Trivia *Salvatore Gravano drove a seventh generation Cadillac Deville in the 1980's and a 99 Green Lexus GS while in witness Protection. *He was a small man at the height of 5 ft 5 inches. What he lacked in height, he made up for in viciousness and ruthless efficiency. *He was potrayed by William Forsythe in 1996 film Gotti. *He was potrayed by Nicholas Turturro in 1998 film Witness to the Mob. *"Mr. Moran" is a song about Sammy Gravano on the album A Jackknife to a Swan by the ska-core group The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. *A Documentary was made about Salvatore Gravano and was shown on the Biography Channel. Gravano's daughter, Karen Gravano, stars on VH1's Mob Wives. External links Sammy The Bull Arrest Category:Gambino Crime Family Category:Gambino Underbosses Category:Gambino Consigliere Category:Gambino Capos Category:Underbosses Category:Gotti Faction Category:Gravano Crew Category:Colombo Crime Family Category:Rats Category:Arizona Mobsters Category:Mob Wives